A country of habitual residence is the country where a person has lived for a long time and made strong ties, even if they are not a citizen there. If someone has only ever lived in one country, that country is automatically their habitual residence.

The term “country of habitual residence” is not clearly defined in Canada’s immigration legislation. Instead, IRCC follows decisions from court cases. These decisions say that a person must have lived in a country and made it their real home — not just stayed there temporarily — for it to be their habitual residence.

When determining an applicant’s country of habitual residence the officers will generally look at factors including:

• The duration of stay in the country of residence and how recent it was 
• The connection of the person to the country of residence
  

For a stateless individual, it is possible to have more than one country of former habitual residence. Factors that may be considered in determining those countries  include:

• Having a family in that country
• Ability to continue to reside in the country
• Ability to return to the country
• Possessing a travel document issued by the country
• Access to work and access healthcare 
• Completion of education in the country